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SPEECH 



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MR. WOOD, OF NEW YORK, 



ON THE 



OREGON QUESTION. 



DELIVERED 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



JANUARY 31, 1846. 



WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED AT THE UNION OFFICE 

1S46. 



SPEECH. 



Oil ilie resolution giving the twelve vionths' notice for the termifiation of the 
joint occupancy of the Oregon territory. 



Mr. WOOD addressed the committee in sub- 
stance, as follows: 

He believed, he said, that all were now ron- 
vinced that this House was divided into three 
distinct divisions. First, those opposed to giving 
the notice; next, those in favor of it, and yet 
were for negotiation; and, lastly, those who 
were m favor of the notice, and yet insisted on the 
whole of Oregon to 54 deg. 40 min.— a policy 
which, if earned out, would inevitably lead to war. 
As one of the representatives of a State, which, in 
I such an e\er\t, would have to do no small share of 
the figbtin?, and, what was of still more conse- 
quence, no small share of the paying, he felt obliged 
Ito offer .some remarks on this subject. He would 
not boast of the courage of his State, for fear it 
might be doubted. She was wise enough, he trust- 
ed, "not to .leek the fight," and gallant enough "not 
to shun u when it came." She would pay ""all just 
demands upon her, whether in gold or iron. Thus 
much of vaunting the common "sense of the House 
would excuse, but he could not have asked such an 
indulgence had he gone any farther tlian this. Had 
he jomed in the wild war-cry which had rung 
through th)s House, carrying us back to the dark 
ages, or, at least, to that time when .some fiery Percy, 
or hot Douglass, marshalled their retainers, not then, 
as now, for a foray on the ballot-box, or at most on 
tlie treasury, but on border lands; had he literally 
deified the tiger attributes of his species, invoked 
war, the scourge and curse of nations, as a blessing 
upon his country, or exalted mere brute courage 
overall that -.vas intellectual and moral in man, as 
had been done on this floor, he would not only have 
apologized to this Flouse, but to Christendom, for so 
gro.ssan attack upon the civilization of the age. 

He admired the moral courage of the gentleman 
from South Carolina, [Mr. Rhett,] who was the 
first on this .^loor to rebuke this spirit, and to strip 
war of its tinsel, and show it as it was, a naked, re- 
volting skeleton. He, for one, thought not the less 
of his bravery, for his morality. Talk to novel- 
readmg girlg and beardless boys of the glories and 
laurels of war, but not to men of sense. Why, 
sir, said he, when 1, the son of a revolutionary sol- 
dier, heard the revolutionary war alluded to in cor- 
nexion with the one here invoked, 1 felt that it wna 
almost .,.i-ri!cge to name them in the same breath; it 
WM virtua-'ly confounding the patriot and the brig- j 

Gentlemei, he said, had talked as if ih"? only rer- ' 
90B8 for apposition lo a war for Oregcn weie foun:"- 



j ed in fears of England. Were there not sufficient 
reasons to deprecate a war, other than our fears ? 
Grant, if you choose, for the sake of the argument, 
that England should be worsted in every conflict, 
and that your plans for conquest and victory, like 
Captain Bobadil's, were perfectly feasible, it would 
still be dear-bought victory, lou would have in- 
flicted greater evils on your own country than on. 
your enemy's. You will have demoralized your 
country, centralized its government, swept away its 
democracy, and erected on its ruins a military aris- 
tocracy, and thrown back for years the ciTihzatior, 
of mankind. Nor would this be all. You will have 
arrested the progress of liberal opinions throughout 
the world, and especially in that very country where 
the principles of free-trade, (the best of all peace so- 
cieties,) are spreading rapidly, widely, and triumph- 
antly, benefiting alike that country and this, and 
and which can be arrested only by a war between 
the two nations. 

Gentlemen were very much inclined to denounce 
England; but the England of 1775 or 1812 was not 
the England of 1846. Paradoxical as it might 
seem, the only effectual way to attack England was 
by peace, and not by war. It was the only way 
you could reach her proud unfeeling aristocracy, 
who had been built up by war, and whom a con- 
tinuance of peace would ere long put down. With 
that aristocracy, none of us had any sympathy; but 
he trusted all had with a down-trodden people, 
struggling to unclasp their grasp, and who had been 
demoralized, plundered, beggared, and reduced to 
starvation by glorious war. And if the same state 
of things, and by the same means, was not produced 
in this country, it would not be the fault of some of 
the gentlemen who had addressed the committee; 
and where a population might ere long be found 
sufl^ciently degraded to hire themselves for a shil- 
ling a day, as in England, to the trade of wholesale 
murder. Why was this deadly hate manifested 
against England > Say what you would, with all 
her injustice to Ireland, and to a portion of her own 
citizens, she still had more of civil and religious lib- 
erty than any other country in Europe. There 
the liberty of speech and of the press were inviolate, 
and the blush came sometimes tingling to his own 
cheek when it occurred to him that'^in this respect 
It was more inviolable in England than in some 
j)ortions of his own country. Nor could he forget 
that the first aspirations for civil and religious liber- 
ty that ever dawned on this world arose in England 
—the same spirit that sent forth the pilgrims of New 



England, inspired Hampden, Milton, and Vane, 
and brought the first Charles to the block. And 
now, at this day, among the middle classes of Eng- 
land, and among those whose names are great with- 
out titles, were many who were manfully battling 
the cause of the peo|)le and of human progress, 
and who would deprecate a war with this country as 
a disgrace to civilization. 

The arrogance of the British government, of 
■which so much had been said, was as little to his 
taste as the profligacy and insidious tyranny of 
France, or the despotism of Russia. He conceded 
that all three were hostile to republican institutions; 
and it became us to see to it that no unjust act of 
ours should furnish them a pretext for an increased 
hostility. We were told, too, of the rapacity of 
England; so also were France and Russia. The one 
had once laid under contribution the Sandwich is- 
lands, had seized on the Society islands, and driven 
our own citazens from the Gaboon in Africa. The 
other, after blotting out one nation (Poland) from 
the map of the world, had, by subsidizing Sweden 
and Norway, extended her dominions across the 
eastern continent. On the south, she commanded 
the Danube and the Euxine, while on our north- 
west, she was in possession, and by treaty, of some 
six degrees of this very Spanish title. Who made 
us the avenger of the wrongs which these nations 
had inflicted .' They bide their time. God had not 
made us their avenger. "Vengeance is mine, saith 
the Lord." It was madness and folly to run a tilt 
against all these powers: And, when he read some 
of the resolutions offered in connexion with this 
subject, or listed to declarations made on this floor, 
and in the other wing of the Capitol, breathing de- 
fiance against the nations of the earth, challenging 
them to the fight, and boasting of the ease with which 
we could conquer them, he knew of nothing which 
could equal such conduct, save that of the madman, 
who, throwing himself on the track of a railroad, 
challenged a locomotive to fight, roundly asserting 
that it was nothing but a cook-stove on wheels. He 
was constrained to believe that, with our Spanish 
title, we had also acquired no small share of Span- 
ish duixotism and Spanish gasconade. 

The gentleman from South Carolina had alluded 
to what rumor had said in relation to the introduc- 
tion of this notice; that it was in fact, a game to 
make great men greater, and little men great. He 
would assure the gentleman that New York had no 
hand in such a game. And if the honorable gentle- 
man would present before the grand inrjues* of the 
nation as nuisances all such, and the whole tribe of 
politicians by trade, he would bid him God speed. 

Why, sir, said ho, the curse of an unborn poster- 
ity will rest on his head who, for his own aggran- 
diseraet, shall unnecessarily plunge this country into 
a war. Woe to him who attempts it. It liad been 
asserted on that floor that no one could be the ne.xt 
president that had not joined in this war-cry and 
shouted for the whole of Oregon. He trusted he 
should never see the day when a mere popular cry, 
or mere availability, would constitute the qualifica- 
tion of a candidate for the pre.sidency. He had 
voted for Mr. Polk certainly not because he was in 
favor of Texas, or had chimed in with any other 
popular cry, but because he believed him honestand 
capable, and because he had confidence in his integ- 
rity. Much had been said about another game or 
another compact — the whole of Oregon and the 
whole of Texas. If a game was playing he had no 
part in that either. If a compact, he had already 



shown by his vote in what light he regarded one 
part of it, at least. And yet it had been suggested 
that his vote, and of those who like him had voted 
ageunst the annexation ef Texas, or rather against 
a clause in its constitution, had been influenced by 
a certain distinguished northern statesman, [Mr. 
Wright,] and inferences had been drawn therefrom 
in relation to that gentleman alike unjust and un- 
true. He knew nothing of that gentleman's opin- 
ions either in regard to Texas or Oregon, except 
what the public knew. He did not represent him 
or any other individual. He had acted in accord- 
ance v/ith the views he had always entertained. It 
was a matter in which he could know no man; nor 
would he suffer the opinions of any man to come 
between him and the convictions of his own con- 
science. Nor had he voted ageiinst the annexation 
of Texas from tmy supposed hostility, as had been 
intimated, to the South. He had acted from no 
such motive, though he had already seen (and 
might again see) the peculiar institutions of the 
South made a sine qua nan qualification for the pre- 1 1 
sidency, and those same institutions made a subject-^ I f 
matter of instruction to a foreign minister by a distin- 
guished southern statesman then holding a high sta- 
tion in the government. To that gentleman (personal- 
ly unknown to him) he meant no disrespect. He 
woulil give him credit for his every virtue, and for 
the fact that his position, for the time being at least, 
was defined. He believed that that gentleman and 
his friends in this House were sincere in their oppo- 
sition to this notice. They viewed it as a war meas- 
ure. In this he differed with them. Did he view , 
it in the same light he should hesitate long before i 
he gave it the sanction of his vote. But he did not I 
so view it. Tiic giving of this notice of itself can- I 
not lead to a war. That depended on subsequent | 
action — upon the carrying out the ultra views in re- ' 
lation to Oregon which had been avowed in that 
House. The "masterly inactivity," of which so 
much had been said, by bringing the citizens of the 
two countries in collision, would sooner or later 
lead to war. Seizing the whole of Oregon by "mas- 
terly activity" would inevitably lead to war; and 
why the latter course had been called masterly he 
knew not, unless it was the conduct of masters, and 
very young masters too. He would not at this 
stage of the debate discuss the que.'stion of title. He 
would merely lay down a few positions, without re- 
course to the musty records from which he had de- | 
rived them, which others could and would, he tn.^u I 
ed, examine for themselves. These positions ■ 1 
thought, on examiruUion, would be found co) J 
and true. There were very few who did not be " 

that Great Britain had a claim of some 
i=ir other to the territory in dispute. A. h' 
ther her title was derived from the Nonik- 
Sound treaty, from tiie exploration of Mackanzieai.' 
the discovery of Frascr's river, from jjroximitv < ' 
contiguity, or from our own concessions, it was im- 
material, and he should not now stop to con»ider. 
He believed our own title south of 49° was uni 
tionable; and if the position taken by the genJi 
from Indiana [Mr. Owen] was correct, an 
thought it was, our title was good to 49'^ 30*; ')«- 
cause it was asserted that Spain had a settlemen' ul 
the time of the Nootka convention, at that f 
and Great Britain had abandoned all claim ti 
territory souih of it. If he had any doubts i: 
matter, it was as to the fact, whether any bcm(. ' 
settlement ever had been made in the disputes. > i 
ritory until recently, and since the comraenccineiit 



of this controversy. He believed that we had 
claims, founded upon exploration and discovery, 
which, putting the Spanish title out of the ques- 
tion, would carry us up at least to 49°. South 
of this parallel, Great Britain had claimed no ex- 
clusive sovereignty. On the o'Jier hand, aside from 
the Spanish title, and by exploration, and discovery, 
he had yet to learn that v/e had any title to the 
country north of 52°, and east of the straits of Fuca. 
Mr. Rush had conceded to Great Britain all north of 
51°. What then was the question at issue? What 
is the matter at stake which was to plunge two great 
nations, the most civilized in the world, into a v/ar? 
It was a strip of land about two degrees in breadth, 
on the uninhabited northwest coast, of doubtful 
value and but little known. Would you, sir, fight 
or negotiate for this? 

Besides, and in addition to all this — and this was 
with him the greatest difficulty— the government had 
thrice, with a perfect knowledge of its title and in 
all sincerity, offered to divide this territory on the 
line of 49°. This was the line marked out by the 
treaty of Utrecht, and the line of proximity and 
contiguity. Would you go to war for what you 
had three times offered to give away? Would wc 
le iustified before God and :iie world in rashly .3eek- 
ng v/ar on such a quarrel? Gentlemen had talked 
abo«: the great value of the country north of 49°, 
and some of them had asserted, he believed, that 
without the whole, Or«gon would not be worth a 
rush. We knew nothing of the couHtry north of 
that parallel. All that had been said of its value 
and beauty were mere draughts on the imagina- 
ijon. Capt. Wilkes had conSned liis exploration 
to the south of 49°. All that was valuable to us 
lay below that line. The most valuable harbors, 
Puget's sound, Hood's canal, and Admiralty inlet, 
were all south of 49°. The gentleman fro.m Ten- 
nessee, [Mr. JOHMSOM,] had said that the territory 
actually in dfepute between the two countries lay 
i.ieween 46° and 49°. This was new to him, and 
the first time he had ever heard of it. He had nev- 
er heard of any one who contemplnteJ a settlement 
of this difficulty upon any line as a basis farther 
south than 49°. It had been said that American 
commercial enterprise could not succeed in Oregon 
unless the British were driven out. This v/as a 
reflection upon the American character lie would 
not permit. For who ever heard of an instance in 
v/hich Americans placed side by side with the 
British, oranv other nation, could not compete with, 
and outstrip in any enterprise? Ail that the Ameri- 
cans wanted was good ports; and with them, and 
left to themselves, they could rival any nation in 
commerce without the protection of any powerful 
incorporated company, or the patronage of the gov- 
ernment. The difference between us and them is 
just the difference between this city and its badly- 
.regulated concerns, and those cities v/hich depend 
on themselves instead of the government. And 
here, in passing, he v/ould say that the popularity 
of the President, great as it was, and deservedly so, 
rfas owing to his moderation and wisdom: It rest- 
ed on his 49°, not on his 54° 40' ; and he rcereited 
to see resolutions offered in this House viriuolly re- 
flecting on his '■ourse and his predecessors in this 
matter; and he had yet to learn whether th,y v^ere 
the price of that forgiveries-: an honorabl*^ t'cntk- 
man had kindly granted him lor offering to cor.i[)ro- 
mise on the line oi 49°. 

If th;8 notice should be given, and we should 



within the year refuse to negotiate, England woul* 
then fill Canada and Oregon with troops; the West 
Indies, Bermuda, and Halifax with her ships-of-war 
and war-steamers. Slie would strike no blow, but 
wait our action; and should we attempt te take the 
whole of Oregon, or, mistakenly relying on disj^ 
fection m Canada, attempt its annexation, we should 
hav« war to the knife. Judging from the past, he 
had too much reliance on the moderation and wis- 
dom of the President to suppose he would take any 
such course. He believed the administration would 
negotiate, and settle this question by the law of na- 
tions, and not by the law of popular acclaraation. 
He would not so far distrust the good sense of either 
nation as to suppose that, at a lime when their com- 
mercial relations were becoming more and more in- 
timate and so beneficial to each other, they would 
madly, blindly, and foolishly rush on war to adjort 
a disputed title they never could settle by fightings 
but only by negotiation at last; and he would say, 
that if we went into such a war, we should soo« 
learn the difference between defending our own 
country and carrying on an aggressive war against 
another. But, sir, said he, while thmgs were in their 
present situation, it struck him that we should do 
that which at all times it was wise and well to do — 
finish every fortification, and furnish them with ord- 
nance— 1,500 pieces of which were then needed for 
the purpose— refit the navy, increase your w*r- 
steamerc, or, at least, provide the materials for a 
steam-marine. 

But the truth was, no one believed in war; public 
opinion was opposed to it, and so much opposed, 
that they were not only averse to takin? any step* 
to prepare for it, but he apprehended tliat with 
many there was an aversion to making the neces- 
sary appropriation for a peace establishment. He 
was for giving the notice, but not for pushing ulte- 
rior measures to such an extreme as to preclude ne- 
gotiation. The country did not believe that meas- 
ures would be so pressed, and it did not, therefore, 
apprehend a war. But should he be mistaken in 
this, and war should come, it was not impulsive 
courage alone that could carry us safely through it. 
The experience of two wars had fully tested the 
truth of this assertion. It had failed m the war of 
the revolution, though urged o» by the most ardent 
patriotism; and the great leader in that struggle 
(Washington) had left on record his opniion of its 
inefficiency: Was this to be a war of a single cum- 
paign, it might do much; but it would be a protract- 
«d war — one in whicli cool endurance was as neces- 
sary as mere impulsive courage. This the suffer- 
ings, the privations, and the pestilence of a camp 
v/ould aoon break down, however enthusiastic at 
first. War v/as nov/ a science; and should it break 
out between the two countries, it was not to be 
fought behind coiion baes, or in the forest glade 
v^ith the rifle, but on another and a different battle- 
field, amid the crossing of bayonets, the flashing of 
sabres, the thunder of cannon, and the whizzing of 
shells and Paixhun shot— or on the ocean wave, man 
to man, and gun to gun. And sure he was, before 
three years had come and gone, all, save those whe 
rioted in the licentiousness of the camp, or who bat- 
tened on the miseries of the human race — who, like 
vulturCH, hovered over the baitle-iield, or. like hye- 
nas, preyed upon tlie slain — would wish for pcacp as 
1 ardently as did the vencrabie gentleman from Mas- 
sftchuselta and his coevals previous to the treaty of 
Ghent, and whose advent would be liailed by l)oik 
I nations as the best gift of Heaven. 



